Wired recently published an article titled “Copyright Chief Urges Congress to Produce ‘Next Great Copyright Act’ regarding upcoming testimony on copyright to congress. As Mitch Stoltz and Parker Higgins from the Electronic Frontier Foundation state “if it’s open season on the Copyright Act, let’s be involved from the start.” Music educators ought to be a part of any conversation concerning new copyright laws. Whether addressing issues related to engagement with digital music or what students and teachers can or cannot do with music or media, copyright law and fair use have serious implications for music teaching and learning. Along with discussion of copyright and fair use, music educators (and hopefully policy makers) ought to consider a range of related issues such as contemporary musical engagement, pedagogy, learning, Creative Commons Licensing and creative rights. One of the most memorable discussions I had with my middle school students years ago related to their attempts at designing and proposing a copyright law that was equitable to all parties. They generated some fabulous ideas and profound dialogue. Consider involving your students in related discussions about copyright, fair use, the arts, creative rights, musical engagement, and the “next great copyright act.”
To generate some additional discussion I highly recommend Matthew Thibeault’s articles “Assessing Your Curriculum with the Creative Rights Pyramid” and “From compliance to creative rights in music education: rethinking intellectual property in the age of new media.” Thibeault also provides a copy of his Creative Work Release Form and Creative Rights Pyramid on Archive.org
You can also find prior posts on this blog connected to copyright issues ranging from generating concert notes to working with media.
Take a look at some additional resources from a range of perspectives that might be helpful and catalyze discussion:
Center for Social Media: Fair use resources
University of Rhode Island: Media education lab copyright resources
Stanford University Copyright and Fair Use Information
Copyright Alliance Education Foundation
Electronic Frontier Foundation: Issues in intellectual property
Duke Center for the Study of the Public Domain (The related Arts Project is particularly relevant)
Good Copy Bad Copy (Documentary)
Copyright Criminals (Documentary)
Some relevant Books: